It is able to travel around Ulaanbaatar by using internet enabled devices

Trans. by D.SERGELEN

In relation to the “Smart Ulaanbaatar” project, Mongolia is cooperating with Google to be included in their Google Maps, Google Street View, Google Culture Institute and Google Art Project in Mongolia. The Google Street View Project for Ulaanbaatar has started two years ago to enable everyone see streets of Ulaanbaatar and even natural landscapes using Google.

Head of the Ulaanbaatar City Information Technology Agency B.Bat-Ulzii gave an interview to Daily news about the project.

Could you give us a brief explanation about using Google Street View on Ulaanbaatar and how people can visit museums, restaurants and other places in the city using the internet?

Ulaanbaatar Governor E.Bat-Uul started this project by requesting to implement the Google projects in Mongolia two years ago. Google Street View simply means the appearance of the streets. In other word, anyone from anywhere can visit over 4,000 cities in 60 countries around the world thanks to the special feature of Google. Pedestrians, cars, buildings and everything will be seen as two dimensional pictures. Also, some museums and public places will be available. It will feel like visiting the places physically.

Will this project only be implemented in Ulaanbaatar?

No, the project covers the entire territory of Mongolia. In order to carry out this project, the special equipment of Google have to be installed in the area to capture the images for the project. For example, specialists took picture of Ulaanbaatar last June and after that they spent two to three months to process the pictures.
Of course, the camera they used was not a simple one. They used specially-equipped cameras for the images.
They took picture of the surroundings using cameras that rotate 360 degrees, but small apparatuses were used to take pictures of Tsonjin Boldog and the other museum’s pictures. In the future, Google specialists will not only work in the city, but also in rural areas. The specialists are able to travel around Mongolia at the end of next year.

You have mentioned that Google Street View project will be beneficial to the tourism sector and economic development. Could you expand on this?

Mongolia became the 61st country that officially joined Google Street View. We are implementing this project ahead of our two neighbors because the capturing work in Russia is incomplete and China banned this project.
I am sure that the project will bring significant improvement in the tourism industry.
Tourists visit Google Street View before travelling to a country. Some surveys show tourists choose their travel by just visiting Google Street View first.
When Mongolia sent an official request to Google, Susan Point, the Asian director of Google said, “I used to think that Mongolia was the same as China, where the communist governance exists and does not permit revealing of information.”
This project features many advantages in tourism security and business development. If we chose to, we can ask Google to give us comprehensive information about reconnaissance. Consequently, we can know when, where and who visited Mongolia’s famous landscapes and Ulaanbaatar streets using the internet.

What about the other Google projects?

Google Culture Institute and Google Art Project are on their initial stages.

How are the projects funded?

Google invested in the projects. In other word, the state or the capital city fund did not invest anything to implement these projects.

How often will the database be updated?

The picture information will be updated every season. If it is necessary, the information can be updated at shorter intervals. But collecting image information and sending them to Google to be processed takes two to three months.

Is it harmful to the privacy of individuals since Google Street View captures everything in the street?

People don’t have to worry about this because the program has a feature that blurs license plate numbers and faces automatically.

Source: Daily News

Short URL: http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=12236

Posted by The UB Post
on Oct 23 2014. Filed under Community.
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